Tony the Spy
by Nuclear Sheep
Summary: What if Anthony DiNozzo never existed? There is only Tony, one of Archangel's operatives. The chapters of this story follow the over all premise and don't necessarily fit in any time line. I'm just poking at the concept.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I'm not really sure about that one. Someone more talented at writing than I am could make a great story out of that idea. I can only manage short scenes at best. If anyone wants to make more of it, tell me where to find it if you do so.

Fourteen year old Tony was miserable. It had been raining for a few days, so every sleeping place he had was wet. To top things off, he hadn't been able to scrounge up any money for almost as long, so he was even more hungry than usual. He didn't like picking pockets, but it was better than shoplifting.

Tony had been observing a very well dressed gentleman for a few minutes. He thought that he had found out where the man kept his wallet. Even if he didn't resort to it often, Tony was an excellent pickpocket. That was why Tony was very surprised when a hand clamped around his wrist just as he was pulling out the wallet. Tony swallowed nervously.

"Are you part of a gang, kid?" Of all questions, Tony hadn't expected that one.

"No, sir! I'm not suicidal." Tony decided to be as honest as possible.

"Smart move. Why did you pick me?" Tony thought that that was a very stupid question.

"You look rich." The man chuckled at his answer.

"I guess I do. You seem to be a smart kid. How would you like a permanent place to live and an education?" Tony studied the man very hard. He didn't look like a pervert, but one couldn't really tell by looks alone.

"I would start by asking what the catch is." That earned him a look of approval.

"Very good. As payment, you would have to work for me." As a drug mule, most likely, Tony thought.

"What kind of work?" Tony asked.

"Espionage."

As it turned out, the day Tony met Michael Archangel was the best day in his life.

Tony, currently known as Anthony DiNozzo of Baltimore PD, was dead tired. He had been sent here to find a rather large source of illegal small arms. As it turned out, the local Mafia was in on it. Tony even had been sent under cover. An under cover operative sent under cover again. It was enough to break anyone's head. Just as he was supposed to go home, they had caught a case and he really couldn't go, especially when the feds got involved. And what feds they were! NCIS! Navy Cops. From the looks of it they had sent the most difficult to work with bastard in their ranks. At least he was competent. But now the case was over, and he could finally go home!

Someone started pounding on his door. Tony hurried to open it before it was beaten in. On the other side was the Navy cop.

"What do you want?" Tony asked tiredly.

"Just found out that you don't have a job any more." That was only technically true.

"Why do you care?" He'd rather not have the attention of the feds.

"I have an opening on my team." Archangel would want to know about that.

Tony was furious. The Secret Service had really dropped the ball this time. All journalists have been vetted for years, they said. There aren't any terrorists on board, they said. The idiots nearly lost the president. Dilettantes.

Anthony DiNozzo liked Kate. Tony didn't. Smug, oh so smart goody two shoes. Tony could think circles around her. And she wasn't as great a profiler as she thought she was. Profiling was overrated anyway. Most of the time, the perpetrator was nothing like the profile. Grabbing a profile out of a bag blindfolded would be as effective.

That was not how one disposed of a body! Acid. Amateurs. Just as well Kate went on the sub with Gibbs. Tony was a pilot, he needed the open sky. Being stuck in a tin can was not his idea of fun. To top it all off, there was another would be genius kissing up to Gibbs. Tony would bet his NCIS salary that he would be on the team in a few months.

What a wimp. She had a perfectly good stab at the infiltrator, but she didn't. Because he had kind eyes. Now Gerald would be out for a long time and they all had to get used to that terribly shy and awkward new kid. At least he had an identity for the shooter. Ari Haswari. Supposedly a Mossad plant in AlQuaeda. Digging deeper revealed that he had switched sides. Gibbs would never catch that particular white wale. Archangel would see to that.

Gibbs had actually managed to identify Ari. With McGee's help. Say hello to the new team member. Anthony DiNozzo would make life hell for him. Tony didn't really mind him, even if he was a bit timid and spineless.

Bah, McGee was supposed to be smart? They had taken ages to hack into the tap the captain had installed. Tony could have done that in five minutes. And told them from the start that it was an inside job. Tony understood the desire for money, having had to live without for too long. But giving up ones own family? His own father had done just that, but he was a junkie. That man had had it all. Sometimes Tony didn't understand people.

Come on, crop circles? Tony could tell at once that the one the chopper was in had been caused by the down draft. The rest had been made as a cover up. As much as he liked Abby, her believe in the supernatural was trying sometimes. The actual story behind the crop circles left Romeo and Juliet gaping in the dust.

There was a reason Tony mistrusted morticians. And taxidermists. That much fascination with the dead had to be unhealthy. And poor Ducky had almost been pickled alive. A rather unpleasant death. They had been just in time.

Tony really didn't like the CIA. They were amateurs and morally corrupt. The Firm would never back a paedophile. At least Archangel's section wouldn't. Luckily they had responded to threats. If Tony ever had to go back to South America, it would be too soon.

Good grief, but McGee was terribly green. One just doesn't open a letter if one doesn't know the sender! It had been extremely lucky that Tony had intercepted the letter and remarked that it felt strange. The specialists had opened it and found some white powder inside. It had been identified as Y. Pestis. Not a very nice disease. The sender had been a deranged biochemist who wanted revenge for the imagined rape of her daughter. The daughter had made the whole thing up to cover up an embarrassing situation.

At the Navy Yard, a major cat fight was brewing. Mossad had sent a liaison officer to keep them from killing Ari, who they had lost contact with. Tony knew that Ari was dead already. Their new director, some woman called Shepard, also didn't want them to kill Ari. On top of all that they had to stop a terrorist attack. Piece of cake. Not.

So, Ziva was here to stay. Kate didn't like her. At all. The way those two were bickering was amazing. And Tony there in the middle to fan the flames. If it weren't so damn annoying most of the time, it would have been fun.

Tony hadn't liked Ziva before. Now he actually disliked her. She had invited the whole team for dinner. Except him. Anthony DiNozzo was very upset about this. Tony thought that this kind of behaviour was very childish and immature. On top of that, Ziva wasn't even half as good an investigator and interrogator as she thought she was.

Tony couldn't believe the man! First he left and stuck Tony with the position of Team Leader, then he came back and expected everything to go back the way things were. And to put the cherry on top, the director had sent him undercover, to sniff out the arms dealer La Grenouille. Another white wale. Then she went and offered him the Rota position. Which he declined, of course. He was supposed to gather intelligence in DC, not some backwater in Spain.

Going undercover while already undercover added a whole new level of confusion to the experience. Without contact to his handler at the Firm, Tony would have been completely lost. The situation with Jeanne and La Grenouille had turned out to be a complete disaster. Tony could have told that from the start.

Now he was accused of murder. Again. He didn't commit that one, either. As far as he knew, the director had killed La Grenouille.

Who ever had thought giving the director a wet works mission in her early days at NCIS had been an idiot. She hadn't been able to go through with the mission and left her mark alive. Which had killed her. Tony and Ziva got the blame for that. The new director seemed to think it was all their fault, at least. He broke up the team and Tony got assigned to a ship. He would vanish in transit. It was way past time he went home.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I actually intended this one to be a one shot. It didn't work out that way. I just wanted to know what Gibbs would do to find Tony.

Gibbs was very angry. That had become a permanent fixture in his life as of late. He had known then that Jenny Shepard made a bad wet works agent, and that it would bite her in the butt one day. He hated being proven right. And Jenny hadn't been the only one to pay the price. His whole team had. McGee in cyber crimes. Gibbs gad to admit he fit in there. Todd had been shuffled off somewhere dealing with counterfeit money. Also a good fit for the former Secret Service agent. David had been sent back to Israel. Good riddance to bad rubbish, as far as Gibbs was concerned. And DiNozzo had been made agent afloat. Usually a step up on the career ladder, but only if you came from a field office. It was clearly a step down in DiNozzo's case.

To top it all off he had to break in a new team. It was one thing to integrate a new member in a working frame, but all of them were completely green. Langer was former FBI, Gibbs had actually recommended him for NCIS, and not very good at his job. Keating was as good with computers as McGee, but with added sleaze. Lee was afraid of her own shadow and clearly wanted nothing more than to be back in legal. And Gibbs was supposed to make a team out of them. Yeah, right.

Gibbs stormed into the bull pen in his usual manner, ever present coffee cup in hand. He stepped up to his desk, glared at something on it and kicked his chair for good measure. Then he stalked up to the director's office.

"You wanted to see me, Leon?" Gibbs asked.

"Has Agent DiNozzo contacted you lately, Agent Gibbs?" The director answered with his own question.

"No. I haven't heard of him since he shipped out to the Ronald Reagan. Did something happen?" Gibbs replied.

"DiNozzo vanished in transit. He was supposed to switch planes on one of our bases. He arrived there, but never left the base. Every stone was turned over, but there was no trace of him. Naturally, I am very concerned that there is someone out there who can vanish one of ours out of our own base without leaving a trace. Are you sure he didn't contact you? No mysterious notes or messages that could have been from him?" The director explained. Gibbs felt cold all of a sudden.

"No, no messages or anything. And I can't think of anyone with a grudge against DiNozzo who has that kind of resources. There are some people who could pull this off that have a grudge against NCIS in general. Have there been any demands?" Gibbs asked.

"No demands. He just vanished. We also took a look at his flat. It had been completely cleared out, and I know DiNozzo didn't have time to organize that before he left. Someone did it for him. Do you know if he kept anything important at his flat?" The director replied. Gibbs thought hard about that.

"I don't think so. Anything else?" Gibbs answered.

"Yes. The main reason I broke up your team was that I need you to find a mole. Someone is passing on classified information, and I narrowed it down to the three on your team. Any idea who it might be?" The director asked.

"Some. I'll let you know if I find anything." Gibbs stormed off without waiting for a reply.

Gibbs had most of his team back. Lee had shot Langer and solved the mole problem. McGee was let out of the dungeon and complaining about all the things Keating had changed on his computer. Todd and David were back to sniping at each other. The only one missing was Tony. There was still no trace of him anywhere. The first thing Gibbs would do now was retrace every step his Senior Field Agent had taken before vanishing.

"McGee, what do you have for me?" Gibbs bark made McGee almost fall out of his chair. That was one thing he hadn't missed during his time in cyber crimes. As much as he liked being back, something wasn't quite right. Without Tony, something was missing. The way it looked now, Tony had been essential in defusing the ticking time bomb that was Gibbs on most days. Kate seemed to realize it now and Ziva was still puzzled about what was going on.

"I have the security tapes from Norfolk and Puerto Rico. I put everything together featuring Tony. Here he arrives at the main gate at Norfolk, he goes through security, waits around a bit and then boards the plane. He gets off in Puerto Rico, talks to a lieutenant, we haven't found her yet. Then he walks into the men's room and doesn't come out again. Everyone else who walked in the whole day walked out again, except Tony. I studied the building schematics, the only other way out of that room are some air-ducts. They are a tight fit, but it would be possible to crawl through. There is one thing we have to think about, though." Gibbs frowned at him.

"And what would that be, McGee?" Gibbs asked. McGee swallowed.

"What if he went with whoever took him willingly? There was no sign of a struggle, and getting someone through those air-ducts while unconscious would be impossible. So Tony must have went into the ducts on his own. Someone might have coerced him, but he had to have been conscious." McGee finished, looking nervously at Gibbs. Gibbs growled.

"Some kind of blackmail? There were no demands to anyone. He knew some classified things, but that went out of date fast. Kate, anything about his family?" Gibbs snapped. Kate gulped.

"His mother died when he was nine, his father parked him in various boarding schools and disowned him when he was eighteen. Tony went to Ohio State on a sport scholarship. His father died when Tony was nineteen. There are no other living relatives. Tony was earmarked to go pro, but during his last game in college, he was fouled and busted his knee. His fiancée broke it off with him because he would never be famous. Tony then went to police academy, worked in various cities, but never longer than two years, until you picked him up in Baltimore and he went to NCIS, where he has been ever since. I went through all of his old cases with a fine tooth comb, but I didn't find anything strange. I have no idea who might have taken him, how they did it and why." Kate glared at her screen as if it had offended her. Gibbs punched his desk.

"David, anything from your contacts?" Ziva sighed.

"Nothing concrete. I heard some rumours that Tony worked for some intelligence agency or other, but no-one can agree on which one. The most popular theory so far is that Tony worked as a mole for one of the more secretive intelligence agencies in the US and was pulled out when he was moved away from Washington. It might actually be true, but if it is, we have no way of knowing." Ziva finished with a frown. Gibbs sighed.

"Anyone else here who might believe that Tony was a spook?" Gibbs only saw sceptical faces.

"Thought so. Next time, give me something useful!" Gibbs stormed off.

Archangel looked up to his opening office door.

"I need you to make a phone call, Tony." Archangel said as greeting.

"Agent Gibbs is getting annoying, isn't he?" Tony asked.

"Quite. He is getting nowhere, but his energy is better spent elsewhere. For finding the mole he only thinks he found already." Archangel replied.

"Do we know who the mole is?" Tony asked.

"We know one for certain, and have a pretty good idea for who the other one is. You may tell Gibbs that he still has work to do when you call him. You know him quite well. Steer him somewhere useful."

Gibbs glared at his computer screen. Infernal machine didn't do what he wanted it to do. Gibbs longed for the days when he could do all paperwork by hand, without all that computerised form nonsense. His desk phone rang.

"Gibbs!" He barked into the receiver.

"Stop looking for me." Gibbs immediately recognized the voice on the other end. He signalled to McGee to start a trace.

"Tony, where the hell are you?" Gibbs asked.

"That is none of your business. Tell McGee that the line I'm calling from is untraceable." Tony replied. Gibbs glanced at McGee. The young agent looked terribly confused about something.

"Why did you leave, Tony? And why are you calling now?" Gibbs asked.

"I left because I was no longer useful at NCIS and my talents could be better used elsewhere. And I call you now because you are wasting valuable resources trying to find me that should be better spent for other purposes." Tony answered.

"So, are you working for another agency now?" Gibbs asked.

"I was keeping an eye on NCIS for another agency. It was a deep cover assignment. We have resources NCIS can only dream of. And you are wasting time trying to find me. You have better things to do." Tony replied.

"Like what?" Gibbs asked.

"There are two moles inside NCIS that sell information to the highest bidder. The Chinese in most cases, though some Middle Eastern states have managed to outbid them from time to time. Langer was clean. The real mole is someone else and working with a partner, also inside NCIS. Get your act together and find them." Tony replied.

"I want to talk to you in person." Gibbs said.

"Not possible." Tony said and hung up.

"McGee, did you trace him?" Gibbs asked.

"No, he used a technique I've never seen before. According to the logs he called from your phone. I don't understand how that can be done." McGee answered.

Gibbs cursed. The director needed to hear that tape.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: In this universe, Tony was trained by Archangel. And no one trained by Archangel would be stupid enough to open a letter at that. If they were, they wouldn't survive long enough. So I had to find a different way to get a letter to Tony.

Tony sorted through his in-tray. Threatening letter from a perp in prison, threatening letter from a perp just released out of prison, thank you letter from the wife of a victim and one letter from HR. Most of the time those went to his home address. But they were nearing the end of the year, and some pencil pusher always had the bright idea to save money by using internal mail. Thinking nothing about it, Tony opened the letter. And started cursing a blue streak at the white powder spilling out. If that was corn starch, he would eat his shoes. Without salt.

The next hour was filled with a flurry of activity. First one hell of a scrub down with disinfectant, then each of them was isolated. It was determined that aside from him Kate also needed to go to Bethesda. Tony hated hospitals. Too many people he knew had died there.

Kate was pacing in her isolation room. There was a permanent two way comm between her room and Tony's, even though they were separated by a glass wall. She didn't understand what had happened. The letter had been from HR. It had looked genuine. If terrorists had managed to pull this off then building security was in serious trouble. The waiting made Kate very uncomfortable. Especially as Tony wasn't being himself. Their Doctor was called Brad Pitt, and Tony hadn't commented on it once. She had yet to hear a movie quote. In the past, no matter how ill Tony had been, he had always quoted movies at anyone in earshot. This was worrying her. And that Gibbs was stalking down the hall towards her with the rest of the team behind him like lost ducklings was even more worrisome.

"What the hell are you doing here, Gibbs? Aren't you supposed to investigate this attack?" Kate asked as soon as he reached her.

"I thought so too, until someone very high up pulled the plug on us and confiscated all the evidence. They even sealed off the whole Navy Yard and kicked us to the curb. Someone is taking that very seriously. How are you?" Gibbs replied.

"I'm fine, my cold is getting better. But I'm worried about Tony. He hasn't said anything at all since we arrived here, and you know what a motor mouth he normally is. He didn't even say anything about Doctor Pitt, whose first name is Brad. Normally he would run with a prompt like that." Kate said furiously.

Whatever Gibbs wanted to say next got lost in the commotion at the other end of the hall. Kate could see a man dressed head to toe in white storming down the hallway, despite the cane and obvious limp. Doctor Pitt was hurrying after him, gesticulating wildly.

"You can't move him! We don't even know what was in the envelope yet." Doctor Pitt exclaimed.

"I can and I will. The envelope contained anthrax, by the way. You should start Agent Todd on broad band antibiotics." The man replied. Doctor Pitt looked like a fish out of water.

Gibbs blocked the man's way.

"Who the hell are you, and what do you want?" Gibbs asked.

"Your clearance is not high enough to know who I am, and I am here for Tony. He will be transferred to a better medical facility." The man answered.

"Like hell you will. He's my agent, and he is going nowhere without my say so. Clear?" Gibbs growled.

In response, the man only made a gesture with his left hand. And Kate wondered how she could have overlooked all those other white clad people. All of whom looked very dangerous. Gibbs looked ready to explode and Kate hoped he would keep his cool. If he went for the man, he would be dead before he hit the ground. Kate looked on as the man went for the intercom.

"Tony, listen to me. Your letter contained anthrax. We are pretty sure about what happened. You will be taken to one of our facilities now." Kate was relieved to see some sign of life return to Tony.

"Micheal?" Kate wondered if that was the man's real name.

"Yes, it's me." Tony looked really relieved now.

"Are you taking me home?" Kate hated the implications of that question.

"Yes."

Kate watched helplessly as even more people in white prepared Tony for transport. He was clearly part of a very influential intelligence service. But Kate couldn't figure out which one. And there she thought she knew them all from her time in the secret service. That Tony had been playing all of them was very galling. Some kind of profiler she was, if she didn't even notice the undercover agent right in front of her nose. From the looks of it, Gibbs had been completely taken in as well, and looked very angry about it. Just how much didn't she know about Tony?


	4. Chapter 4

AN: I never really liked Kate. She was often way too smug. Though putting her and Ziva together would have been ... interesting. I think.

* * *

Kate stared at the ceiling above her bed. Ever since Tony's last phone call Gibbs had been impossible. Now that he was gone it was clear to her that he had been the glue holding the team together. Without him, everything was coming apart. Tony had been a common enemy for her and Ziva, distracting them from the fact that they just couldn't work together. In the past, whenever Gibbs had become too high strung Tony had made an inappropriate remark and defused some of Gibbs' anger. Now McGee had been upgraded to the status of favourite lightning rod. Kate didn't envy his position one bit.

The fact that someone from an outside agency she didn't even know the name of had had to point them in the direction of a leak in their own house was extremely embarrassing. That Lee had managed to fool them all for so long cast NCIS in a very bad light. That her daughter/sister hadn't shown up on their background check was mortifying. She wondered what bureaucratic procedure had messed up their vetting process. Kate didn't like political ass covering interfering in her work.

Thinking back, Kate concluded that some of Tony's breakthroughs were the result of him using some other resources. If he was an operative he had to have all sorts of interesting informants and sources. Maybe he was even behind Ari's disappearance. Whenever they had run into a brick wall during one of their investigations, Tony had been the one to find a new lead when everyone else's ideas had fallen through. Kate fell asleep during her musings.

The next day at work, Kate ran another background check on Tony. No matter how closely she looked she couldn't find a flaw in his legend. Whoever his employers were, they had incredible resources. Kate was familiar with undercover ops and most legends withstood a thorough check. But if you knew they were false you usually found a hole somewhere. McGee had pulled apart every file and found no flaws. It was maddening.

The thing that annoyed Kate most was that Tony had been fooling her completely. Either he really was the frat boy he portrayed or he was the best actor she had ever met. She suspected that the latter was the case, considering his track record of undercover ops. Kate took pride in being an excellent judge of character. The fact that she hadn't been able to see through Tony upset her greatly.

Kate had informally put out feelers for other postings within NCIS. The MCRT in Washington certainly was prestigious. With Gibbs the way he was now it was entirely unbearable. Maybe she could get a posting in the LA field office. The climate in California was supposed to be very nice.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: I just had to bring in Marella somehow. Even if she is only mentioned. Hope you like it.

* * *

Kate looked up as the elevator pinged open. Tony usually looked a bit dishevelled most Monday mornings, but this time he looked as if he had slept in his clothes. At least he was punctual. The first thing he did on reaching his desk was getting on the phone. Kate wasn't above eavesdropping.

"Hello Marella! I think I left my tie at your place, can you see it somewhere?" Kate wondered who Marella was. Judging by Tony's usual stories Kate had a clear picture of a vapid blonde with more bust than brains in her mind.

"You don't see it anywhere? Then Gustavo must have taken it. We had real fun getting together at that party at your place. Any chance of meeting you sometime this week?"

Great, now he was planning dates on the clock. Marella must have been really talented at something that Tony couldn't wait for the lunch hour. Kate was disgusted.

"You want to have lunch, today? This is great, when will you pick me up?"

Kate had the feeling that this would be a very long lunch hour for Tony.

"Fine, see you at one, then."

There was only one thought echoing through Kate's head. Men are pigs.

* * *

Tony wanted to bang his head on the table. It would feel great once he stopped. He had to survive the next five hours, then he was home free. He had spent the weekend on the run from several hit squads sponsored by the Gustavo cartel. Tony had went flying on Saturday. Once he got back, he ran into Ricardo, the head henchman of the Gustavo cartel. Who had recognised him. One of Tony's first operations had been drying up drug running operation that was used to finance small arms dealing. Tony had been sent undercover as a self employed pilot who took on any cargo, no questions asked, as long as the price was right. The operation had worked like a charm, that particular arm of the cartel had fallen off. But it hadn't killed the cartel. They knew who had sold them out. The way it looked, they had recovered nicely. Which was bad for Tony. Everything was going to be fine as long as he stayed inside NCIS until he was picked up. If he put one toe outside, all bets were off. Tony prayed to whatever god looked after good little operatives that they wouldn't catch a case today.

* * *

Gibbs studied his senior field agent. Something was off about him today. He had heard his phone call this morning. Tony having a lunch date didn't explain his looking at his watch every ten seconds. He was nervous about something. Gibbs had tried to talk to him about it several times, but every time he wanted to get a private word with him Tony was somewhere else. It was as if the man was evading him, or something. Whatever it was, it couldn't bee too serious. If Tony was in real trouble, he would come to Gibbs for help.

Director Leon Vance stared at his phone. He had just been informed that a helicopter would land on his roof at one pm. He had received the appropriate paperwork but no reason as to why a move like that was necessary. He didn't like being used like that. Especially if he wasn't told what was going on.

It was nearing one pm and Kate was watching Tony. He kept glancing at his phone. When it rang, he picked up before the first ring even finished. That girl he was meeting for lunch had to be really talented. Sometimes Kate wondered if Tony even knew how to use his brain. In her disgust Kate didn't even notice that Tony was heading for the stairs instead of the elevator.

* * *

Gibbs looked at his watch. It was now fifteenhundred hours, and Tony still wasn't back from his lunch break. He had tried calling him, but he wouldn't answer his cell. There were two rules Tony followed religiously. Always carry a knife and never be unreachable. Something was up. Gibbs decided to call the front desk and ask if they had seen who he had left with.

Now Gibbs was ready to punch a wall. According to the front desk, DiNozzo hadn't left the building. Gibbs ordered a security lock down and organized a search for Tony. He wasn't found. When he returned, the director was waiting for him.

"Gibbs. Care to tell me what this is all about?" Vance asked.

"Yeah, Tony left at thirteenhundred hours for a lunch date. He didn't return, and according to security logs he never left the building. We looked everywhere and he definitely isn't in the building." Gibbs growled. The first part of Vance's answer was unprintable. Gibbs blinked.

"Earlier today I got a call that informed me that a helicopter would land on our roof at one pm. They told me that the reason was need to know and I didn't. Who is responsible checking for checking the security tapes?" Vance said.

"Ah, me sir. This is the footage I have of Tony today. He came in late and made a call. Then he works at his desk most of the time. He leaves for the head, the printer, the break room and the archive. At one pm he gets a call, takes his stuff and goes to the stairs. He goes up to the roof, but the cameras there have been disabled." McGee put in. Gibbs cursed and Vance looked angry.

"When I find out which agency stole an agent of mine out of my building, they are going to be sorry!" Vance shouted. Gibbs wholeheartedly agreed.

* * *

AN: So that's how linebreaks work...


	6. Chapter 6

Kate wanted nothing more than to beat her head against a wall right now. She had been sent undercover as a waitress in a strip club that was frequented by the thugs of a drug lord who was suspected to use service personnel to smuggle his goods into the country. Unfortunately she had caught the eye of the drug lords head enforcer. She had played along and become his girlfriend. That was sickening enough. But then she had messed up and blown her cover. Tony had made everything look so easy.

Right now her hand were bound and she was hanging from a hook in the ceiling. Standing on tiptoe she could take some of the strain off her arms. By her reckoning it had been a few days since everything went wrong and no one knew where she was. Kate hoped that they would kill her fast and without torturing her first. Even though she was worried and in a lot of pain exhaustion overtook Kate and she fell in an uneasy sleep.

Kate woke up because there was a hand covering her mouth.

"Don't scream. You're very lucky that what I was looking for was in the basement. I'll get you out of here." A voice that sounded vaguely familiar whispered in her ear. Kate couldn't figure out where she had heard it before. The man cut her loose and Kate groaned with relieve.

"We can spare a few minutes for you to get a bit of your strength back, but we'll have to run soon." The man said.

"Thanks. I'm Kate. Who are you?" Kate asked.

"No one important. Are you able to move yet?" Kate nodded yes, and they were off.

The corridors they were moving through were strangely empty.

"Where is everybody?" Kate wondered.

"They are trying to stop the fire I set from reaching their ammunitions depot. We have ten minutes until the charge I planted there blows. We need to be outside by then. The confusion should let us get out of the compound and into the jungle." Her rescuer answered.

"Where we will meet the rest of your team?" Kate asked hopefully.

"I'm here alone." Kate's heart sank.

"Either you are very good, or insane." Kate said.

"The consensus with my colleagues is both." The man replied.

Kate groaned.

To Kate's surprise everything went as the man had planned and they were in the jungle.

"What now?" Kate asked.

"We walk five miles that way, to my chopper." The stranger said and took off his storm mask.

Kate couldn't believe her eyes.

"Tony?" She exclaimed.

"Yep. Let's get moving." He replied.

Kate followed. After a while she had ordered her thoughts enough to start asking questions.

"Where the hell have you been?" Was the first one.

"Here and there. Mostly there. Nice place, you should visit some time." Tony answered.

"We were looking for you! You could have called." Kate said.

"I noticed. And I had no reason to call." Tony replied.

"What do you mean you had no reason to call? We are your friends." Kate asked obviously hurt.

"Not really. If I really was as stupid as you thought I was, did you really think I would have made it through the police academy and into a federal agency?" Tony asked back. The question hurt.

"I never looked at it that way." Kate said defensively.

"Obviously." Tony replied sarcastically.

"Was that why you left?" Kate asked.

"No. I was needed elsewhere." Tony answered.

"Where?" Kate wondered.

"Less talking, more walking, Kate." Tony replied.

Kate complied grudgingly.

Their trek through the jungle took a few hours and Kate nearly wept with relieve when she saw the helicopter. Tony handed her a bottle of water an a few ration bars before he went to take off the camouflage netting. Kate decided to ask one more question.

"Where is the pilot?" She asked.

"I'm the pilot." Tony replied.

"Are you sure?" Kate said.

"Yes. Now get in." Tony answered.

The flight back was spent in uncomfortable silence, and even though she was tired Kate couldn't settle her mind enough to get to sleep. After a few hours they landed near a nondescript farm. When they entered the main house Kate was surprised to find a state of the art hospital. She was spirited off by a few nurses and thoroughly checked out and washed. Then she was put to bed. This time she could sleep.

The next morning she was visited by a man in white.

"Good morning. You may call me Archangel. Let's talk about what you are going to tell your director once you are released."


	7. Chapter 7

Gibbs crept through the dilapidated building, gun in hand. The building was owned by a man who was a very strong suspect in their current case. Solving cases was a lot harder these days, ever since Tony had vanished. One never appreciated a good thing until it was gone. Kate seemed to notice that now. And Gibbs couldn't have imagined how much of a buffer between Kate and Ziva Tony had been. One of their frequent arguments had almost descended into scratching and hair pulling. Gibbs shook his head and reprimanded himself for the wool gathering. Getting shot because he was mentally elsewhere would be really embarrasing.

"Don't step into the room." A woman's voice said as he opened the door.

"Why not?" Gibbs asked.

"Because the floor is covered with pressure mats. The whole building is rigged to explode. Stay where you are or we all die." The woman answered.

"I'm special agent Gibbs, from NCIS. Who are you?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm Marella, my colleague behind me is Tony. We work for the Firm. Do you have a phone with you?" Marella replied.

"You guys are real? Sorry, that was stupid. I have a phone. Do you want me to call the bomb squad?" Gibbs asked.

"No, call this number." Marella answered and gave him a very long number.

"What should I tell the person on the other end?" Gibbs wanted to know.

"Tell Archangel to send Zebra Squad and Babe to this address. And tell him I said so." Marella replied.

Gibbs dialled.

"Who are you and how did you get this number?" The voice at the other end snapped.

"I'm special agent Gibbs, from NCIS. Marella told me to call this number. Are you Archangel?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes. Why isn't she calling herself?" Archangel replied.

"She is in the middle of a room, surrounded by pressure pads that are the trigger to blow the building sky high. She doesn't have a phone. She told me to tell you to send Zebra Squad and Babe." Gibbs said.

"I see the address here. We will be here in one hour." Archangel said and hung up.

"They'll be her in one hour. How did you end up here?" Gibbs asked.

"We were looking for a mole in a classified project. We found it the hard way." Marella answered.

Gibbs winced.

"How's your partner?" Gibbs asked.

"Still unconscious. He was shot and lost a lot of blood, but he is stable for now. Perhaps you should tell your team to wait outside." Marella replied.

Gibbs watched the proceedings from the side lines. A squad of commandos had arrived exactly one hour after his phone call. They had been accompanied by a man called Babe and another man completely dressed in white. Currently that one was pacing with obvious difficulty. Gibbs approached him.

"Thank you for your call, agent Gibbs. How did you find this place?" Archangel asked.

"The plot belongs to a suspect in our current case. We were looking for clues when we found your people." Gibbs replied.

"You were lucky you didn't arrive earlier. Marella told me that she hadn't been awake very long when you arrived." Archangel said. Gibbs swallowed.

"So they were meant as bait." Gibbs stated.

"Yes. You do realize that I will take over your case now?" Archangel said.

"To be honest, I get the feeling that I don't want to be involved in a case you are interested in." Gibbs answered.

Archangel chuckled.

Then Gibbs saw Marella walking out of the building, next to her partner on a stretcher. It was Tony. Gibbs got the sinking feeling that he had never been his agent in the first place.

* * *

AN: That's it for now. I got invaded by bunnies for another show.


End file.
